Monday, October 14, 2013

Richmond | Daily reportedly put on remote control

First, the general manager-editor of the Palladium-Item retired six weeks ago. Now, according to one of my readers, two of the senior-most advertising sales managers were let go in the past week.

How will the 10,128-circulation paper in Richmond, Ind., be led? Remotely, from sites in Indiana's Lafayette and Muncie, according to my reader.

14 comments:

  1. working harder and smarter

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    1. That comment must have taken a great deal of thought. You have added so much to the discussion.

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  2. "So?" That could be the company motto.

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  3. The production supervisor who repeated this line here in Phoenix... (actually a bit different,) "Don't work harder, work smarter" got himself laid off! He didn't quite understand what Gannett wanted.

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  4. That paper is a piece anyway

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  5. What's good for Muncie is good for Richmond. You don't need any staff in Richmond.

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    1. One day the same might be said for Muncie and Lafayette.

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    2. Might? LOL, try 2-3 years ago at most.

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  6. One lawsuit due to inattention at the local level will show the folly of this cost-saving measure. And productivity, such as it is, will go down as well. Gannett would be better dumping the property for all the effort they are putting into it. And a memo to any other small community paper in Gannett-land, get ready for the same treatment.

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  7. This is standard now for small community papers across the country in Gannettland. Corporate doesn't care about these towns. They're effectively bureaus, but Gannett "management" pretends to the community they're still stand-alone papers. They aren't. Meanwhile, Gannett guts them so much that there's really nothing left to sell if anyone were interested.

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  8. This is what gracia meant by hometown advantage. Now, if only other properties could deleverage top heavy management.

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  9. Maybe that paper wasn't always "a piece." But Gannett's business model in recent years is turning all of its properties, including the big ones, into "a piece."

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  10. Gannett is cannibalizing its newspapers until there hardly will be anything left of them. Case in point.

    I won't be surprised if all remaining operations for Richmond -- copy editing, reporting, photography -- is contracted out or moved to Muncie or Indianapolis.

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  11. Maybe remote, detached, and absentee are the new 'local, local, local....' Stay impressive GCI.

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